United Nations Climate Talks Stall in China

A multi-lateral United Nations climate conference, sponsored by China in
Tianjin, has yet to achieve a consensus on how the global community
should organize to fight climate change and limit energy use. The talks
are a prologue to the much larger United Nations climate summit planned
for Cancun, Mexico, next month. Here's what happening at the China
conference and what it means for the global fight against climate
change.

How Much Responsibility for China? Voice of America's Stephanie Ho explains
that the central challenge is determining how to allocate the burden
for fixing climate change. "While many of the negotiators for a global
climate change accord consider it a pressing issue, there is less
agreement on how to share the burden of tackling the problem. ... One of
the big sticking points is whether there should be binding targets to
reduce emissions. Although China has overtaken the United States to
become the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Beijing refuses
to commit to targets because it says it is still a developing nation."

For China, Economics Trump Environment Bloomberg's Stuart Biggs writes,
"China’s plan to begin carbon trading may be held up by negotiations
with cities and industries over how to set a limit for emissions,
China’s National Development and Reform Commission said. ... The
negotiations are 'difficult' because any cap set on emissions will
inhibit economic development at a time when the central government’s
priority is raising living standards for the more than 150 million
Chinese who subsist at poverty levels, according to Sun Cuihua, deputy chief of the climate-change department at the national planner."

Battle Lines: Developing vs Developed Nations The Agence France-Presse explains,
"The conference has so far been unable to heal the deep rifts between
developed and developing countries that led to the failure by world
leaders to broker a binding deal in Copenhagen last year." Although
developing nations produce a substantial amount of pollution, they are
more economically dependent on cheap energy than rich nations. Therefore
those developing nations, such as China and India, insist on looser
standards. But developed nations, such as the U.S., argue that any
climate agreement is useless without the support of developing
polluters.

Of Course They'll Fail The National Post's Kelly McParland snarks,
"Stop the Presses: UN climate talks may fail. ... Here’s a shock. Is
everyone sitting down? You might want to prepare yourself. ... Wow, can
you imagine? The United Nations, that model for efficiency and
effectiveness, is having trouble coming to agreement on a treaty to deal
with greenhouse gas emissions. ... Boy, you know there’s something
screwy in the world when even the UN can’t get China and the U.S. to
agree on something. Because the UN is usually so successful."